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Managing Sustainable Development on the Croatian Islands -Documents, Problems and Perspectives

Island sustainable development planning was promoted in Croatia in 1997 following the passage of th National Island Development Programme by the Croatian Parliament. The Programme summarizes economic and demographic processes on the Croatian islands, evaluates existing development level, sets the criteria for and modalities of further development management and lists tasks to be accomplished by particular ministries, public enterprises and state and county agencies. The Programme states that islands stand on a development crossroad from which they can take either a path of fast growth and resource exhaustion or a path of full and sustainable use of their resources. The programme stands for the latter, defines island comparative advantages, limiting factors and development principles and goals. The main development goal is defined as complete and sustainable use of island resources coupled with continuous betterment of quality of island life. The Programme defines four types of development measures: adjustment of institutional framework in which users of island resources operate, government financed construction and improvements of island infrastructure facilities, improvements in island health care, primary education and provision of cultural services and government financed drafting, promotion and dissemination of island development documentation. The Programme defines infrastructure and suprastructure programmes to be performed by particular ministries and public enterprises. and a set of economic measures aimed at attracting sustainable development investors to islands. It provides a list of sustainable economic activities and clearly shows which investments will be subjected to incentives such as tax exemptions, favourable loans and special transport tariffs. The Programme also promotes "programmes of sustainable development" which are to serve as compulsory development documents for every inhabitated island. In this way the economic programming is brought to the same level as physical planning. In 1999 The Croatian Parliament passed the Island Act which has rounded the institutional framework of further island development management. However, implementation of the Programme and enforcement of the Island Act appeared as insurmountable tasks so far.

Islands; Sustainability; Development

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